I was Hypnotized in Front of a Bunch of Strangers

On Sept. 25 I was hypnotized by Chris Jones from America’s Got Talent. 

It all started when my roommate, Madi, wanted to go and get hypnotized because we watched a hypnotist during Kent State’s Welcome Weekend and it was hilarious. Going in I had already decided I wasn’t going to volunteer. To be honest, I was terrified of what I would do when I couldn’t control my own actions. 

When we get there we got a pretty good seat in Kent States’s Kiva auditorium. Madi is super hyped to get up on stage. To start off the show Jones asks everyone who wants to be hypnotized on stage to stand up. I stay seated. He encourages everyone in the audience, even the ones seated, to close their eyes and follow along; just for fun. I did just to see if it was real. I feel myself drifting away as he is instructing our arms to rise and fall. His last statement for us is that we should now be unable to say our names out loud and to wake up. 

I awake and immediately start panicking when Madi looks at me and asks me to say my name. 

I can’t. I know my name. I am saying it in my head, but it won’t come out of my mouth. I am terrified. Madi is also freaking because Jones is going around looking for the people in the crowd that can’t speak their names. They are all pointing at me to get him to come over. He comes up to me and asks me to say my name. I can’t. I am pulled on stage.

In retrospect, I was terrified because when I was younger I had a really bad concussion that caused blackouts. After the blackouts, I wouldn’t remember what happened. I was flashing back to that when I was asked to say my name. 

In general, the experience wasn’t awful. I didn’t do anything extremely embarrassing. Other people did much weirder things than I did. Let’s go through some of the highlights of the event (Luckily Madi filmed the whole time I was on stage):

The Roller Coaster

During this segment, we were told that we were on a rollercoaster and then that our seatbelts were broken. You can’t see it very well but my entire body was shaking. (I’m the blonde second from the left in a black tank top and black jeans) Click here or on the photo to watch the video clip! 

The Dance Party 

IN this segment Jones plays us different iconic dance songs and we were told to have no embarrassment and bust a move. Let’s just say even when I’m not hypnotized, if you tell me to dance, I will most definitely dance!Click here or on the photo to watch the clip! 

The Drake Concert

Jones looks a lot like the rapper Drake. So, to finish out the show we were told to go sit in the audience and that we were at the best Drake concert in the world. My reaction is 100% genuine.Click here or on the photo to watch the clip! 

As I was watching these videos back and reliving all of it, I realized that I am extremely cringy, for one, and just how crazy it is that I was actually hypnotized. In my head, I knew I was hypnotized but I couldn’t stop my body and feelings from doing what he said. I was out of my own control. 

When the show was over, he woke us up and made sure we remembered everything we did during the hour we were on stage. It literally felt like five minutes up there. I got a picture with Jones and thanked him for letting me meet Drake, even if it was only in my mind. 

Since this experience, I have realized a couple of things:

1. I am extremely susceptible to hypnotism

2. My therapist has been using hypnotherapy on me the whole time I’ve been seeing her

3. I actually really enjoy it when it’s under my control

4. I now use guided meditation regularly 

5. It helped take me away from the stress of the world and focus on myself 

I highly encourage trying meditation because it is a step towards being hypnotized. It can be fun too. Who knows what you’re going to do? 

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